CBTp Course Being Offered to All BH Professionals to Strengthen Workforce Skills

For the first time, the Best Practices in Schizophrenia Treatment (BeST) Center has opened our Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp): Foundational Skills course to all behavioral health professionals for registration. CBTp has been recognized by SAMHSA as a core, evidence‑based model and serves as the standard of care for working with psychosis in behavioral health systems. As a leader in CBTp training and consultation, the BeST Center equips clinicians with practical tools for helping Ohioans who experience psychosis while maintaining a recovery-oriented approach. Virtual classes will be held biweekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays (9/29 to 10/22) from 9am-11am for four weeks. Space is limited. Course registration will be open through September 8.

Click here to register!

Ohio Medicaid BH Utilization Management Stakeholder Office Hours 9-10-26 - 11.1

ODM has announced weekly office hours for all behavioral health providers and stakeholders to share information about the BH Utilization Management approach recently released. The eleventh meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 10 from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM.  Providers wishing to attend must register and may submit questions in advance. This is an opportunity to hear directly from ODM about the upcoming changes and their expectations. ODM’s format will be to share information and respond to questions submitted in advance or through the webinar chat function. There will not be live interactions or dialogue due to the limited time of the meeting. Please see the invitation below and register to attend.

Weekly Behavioral Health Utilization Management Stakeholder Webinar Hosted by the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM)

Purpose
This weekly public webinar provides a forum for open, two‑way communication between the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and behavioral health providers. Each session offers updates on upcoming changes to ODM’s behavioral health program and serves as an opportunity for providers to ask questions and share concerns.

Who Should Attend
Behavioral health organizations and providers; others interested in current or future updates to ODM’s behavioral health program.

Weekly Topic (September 10, 2026)

Managed Care Entity (MCE) walk through of utilization management implementation instructions.

1. AmeriHealth, Anthem, and Molina

What to Expect

1. Program and policy updates
2. Clarification on pending systems changes
3. Space for providers to submit questions, challenges, or feedback
4. Upcoming additional information

Format
Weekly virtual webinar

Registration
Registration is required for attendance. Please feel free to share it within your organization or provider network. Registration link here: Ohio Medicaid BH Utilization Management Stakeholder Office Hours 9-10-26

Submit Questions to ODM Beforehand Here: [email protected]

Ohio to Begin Directly Vetting Addiction Recovery Houses, DeWine Says

State leaders want to more strictly regulate recovery housing, or substance-free residences for Ohioans recovering from various addictions.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed an emergency executive order Monday afternoon giving the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (ODBH) the ability to directly certify recovery housing for the foreseeable future.

The agency has begun hiring for more survey staffers to do so, said ODBH Director Tia Marcel Moretti. The order ends in 120 days, but DeWine has asked a legislative committee, the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR), to codify it.

In the last few years, the amount of recovery housing in Ohio has skyrocketed, he said, from 356 houses in 2022, to more than 1,700 houses in 2026. The state doesn’t directly manage oversight of them, instead relying on the accreditation of two organizations: Ohio Recovery Housing and Oxford House Inc. But not all the facilities billed as recovery housing are seeking out accreditation from either organization, DeWine said. Some have unsanitary and unsafe living conditions.

And DeWine, alongside state lawmakers Sen. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) and Rep. Justin Pizzulli (R-Scioto County), raised concerns of abuse of the system, most notably in southern Ohio.

“Bad actors have discovered something very disturbing. You can profit from addiction,” Pizzulli told reporters. “Without strong enough standards and oversight, parts of this system have become the Wild West.”

His rural Scioto County—which houses about 74,000 residents—has 111 accredited recovery houses, according to ODBH data.

House Bill 58, which Pizzulli introduced last year and the Ohio House unanimously advanced in February, would further regulate recovery housing. It is unlikely to see any substantive action before November, since the legislature is out for the summer.

Public Health Alerts: Sales of Unauthorized e-cigarettes in the United States

More than two-thirds of US sales of e-cigarettes are illicit, with most targeting young people, according to a Public Health Alerts report.

The report’s authors—scientists from the CDC Foundation—analyzed retail scanner data from Circana, a market research company that collects point-of-sale data, to estimate the proportion of unauthorized sales of e-cigarette products in US stores last December.

The report authors note that federal law requires a manufacturer to receive a marketing granted order (MGO) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to legally market a new tobacco product in the United States.

A total of 146 products, accounting for 30.6% of e-cigarette sales, were matched to authorized products in December 2025. The remaining 69.4% of sales for 4,421 products were unauthorized.

The report notes that 7.0% of US adults, 24.8% of young adults (18 to 24 years old), 7.8% of high schoolers, and 3.5% of middle schoolers use e-cigarettes.

Disposable e-cigarettes in flavors that may appeal to young people comprised the majority of unauthorized sales.

The authors conclude, “Disposable e-cigarettes in flavors that may appeal to young people comprised the majority of unauthorized sales.”